THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, and welcome to the White
House. I'm so honored to welcome such distinguished guests
and ambassadors during the holy month of Ramadan.

America is made better by millions of Muslim
citizens. America has close and important relations with
many Islamic nations. So it is fitting for America to honor
your friendship and the traditions of a great faith by hosting this
Iftaar at the White House.

I want to thank our Secretary of State for being here, as well as
members of my administration. I want to thank the
ambassadors for taking time in this holy month to come to join us in
this feast.

Ramadan is a time of fasting and prayer for the Muslim
faithful. So tonight we are reminded of God's greatness and
His commandments to live in peace and to help neighbors in
need. According to Muslim teachings, God first revealed His
word in the holy Qur'an to the prophet, Muhammad, during the month of
Ramadan. That word has guided billions of believers across
the centuries, and those believers built a culture of learning and
literature and science.

All the world continues to benefit from this faith and its
achievements. Ramadan and the upcoming holiday season are a
good time for people of different faiths to learn more about each
other. And the more we learn, the more we find that many
commitments are broadly shared. We share a commitment to
family, to protect and love our children. We share a belief
in God's justice, and man's moral responsibility. And we
share the same hope for a future of peace. We have much in
common and much to learn from one another.

This evening, we gather in a spirit of peace and
cooperation. I appreciate your support of our objectives in
the campaign against terrorism. Tonight that campaign
continues in Afghanistan, so that the people of Afghanistan will soon
know peace. The terrorists have no home in any
faith. Evil has no holy days.

This evening we also gather in the spirit of generosity and
charity. As this feast breaks the Ramadan fast, America is also
sharing our table with the people of Afghanistan. We are
proud to play a leading role in humanitarian relief efforts, with air
drops and truck convoys of food and medicine. America's
children are donating their dollars to the Afghan
children. And my administration is committed to help
reconstruct that country, and to support a stable government that
represents all of the people of Afghanistan.

We are working for more opportunity and a better life for the
people of Afghanistan, and all the people of the Islamic
world. America respects people of all faiths, and America
seeks peace with people of all faiths.